In Dream Team book, Drexler says he thought Magic was going to die

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This summer marks the 20th anniversary of the Dream Team. To celebrate the occasion, NBA TV recently aired a documentary and Sports Illustrated’s Jack McCallum wrote the book, “Dream Team,” which comes out July 10, chronicling the star-studded team’s run through the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.

McCallum, who interviewed all 12 players on the squad, got some interesting quotes from Clyde Drexler about two of his most famous Dream Team teammates.

Drexler, who played for the Portland Trail Blazers (1983-94) and Rockets (1994-98), told McCallum he didn’t believe Los Angeles Lakers star Magic Johnson, who had retired from the NBA in 1991 with the HIV virus, deserved a spot on the team. Drexler also said he felt Johnson shouldn’t have been awarded the MVP of the 1992 NBA All-Star Game in Orlando.

“Magic was always…” And Drexler goes into a decent Magic impression: “‘Come on, Clyde, come on, Clyde, get with me, get with me,’ and making all that noise. And, really, he couldn’t play much by that time. He couldn’t guard his shadow.”

“But you have to have to understand what was going on then. Everybody kept waiting for Magic to die. Every time he’d run up the court everybody would feel sorry for the guy, and he’d get all that benefit of the doubt. Magic came across like, ‘All this is my stuff.’ Really? Get outta here, dude. He was on the declining end of his career.”

Drexler had played exquisitely in the 1992 All-Star Game in Orlando, although the MVP award eventually went to Magic, who had been added by Commissioner Stern as a special thirteenth player to the Western Conference roster. “If we all knew Magic was going to live this long, I would’ve gotten the MVP of that game, and Magic probably wouldn’t have made the Olympic team.”

While Johnson did receive a spot on the team, Detroit Pistons star Isiah Thomas did not. And Drexler wasn’t fond of the prevailing notion that Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan kept Thomas off the roster.

“When one player has the ability to leave another player off, we’ve lost control of the system.”